Let’s talk about a very specific kind of pain. Not the ordinary pain of being wrong — everybody’s wrong sometimes. I’m talking about the deluxe, self-inflicted, slow-motion pain of being handed a perfectly good exit ramp toward humility… and flooring the gas in the opposite direction.
This is a story about bravado outrunning the box score. About that moment when new evidence rolls in, when the universe quietly cracks a window so a little humility can sneak through and let you save face — and instead of climbing through it, you plant your feet, look the world dead in the eye, and say, “Yeah. I said it. And I meant it.”
Enter Becky Hammon and Draymond Green. And enter the man at the center of it all, the new Finals MVP, who is far too classy to say what needs to be said out loud. Lucky for him, I have no such problem. I’ll say it for him.
The New York Knicks just won the 2026 NBA Finals, knocking off Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs four games to one. It’s their first title since 1973 — a 53-year wait, finally over. Jalen Brunson was named Finals MVP. Unanimously. All eleven voters, one name. He averaged 32.6 points a night for the series and dropped a Knicks Finals-record 45 in the Game 5 clincher on the road.
That’s the ending. Now let me rewind the tape, because the journey is the funny part.
The Take That Aged Like Warm Milk
Back in 2023, Becky Hammon — respected coach, basketball lifer, genuinely not a hot-take merchant — offered a theory about winning championships. The theory went like this: if your team’s best player is small, you are not winning a title. Full stop. She named one exception in the entire sport.
“If your best player is small, you’re not winning… Steph Curry is the only dude.”
And she specifically put Jalen Brunson — listed at a generous six-foot-two — on the wrong side of that line. Too small to be a true No. 1A. Too short to carry a champion. Prove me wrong, basically.
Fine. Takes are takes. That one could’ve aged quietly in a drawer somewhere. But then a man who has never met a microphone he didn’t want to lovingly cradle decided to go digging. Draymond Green pulled Hammon’s 2023 comments up on his podcast, dusted them off, held them to the light, and announced to the world that he agreed. Co-signed. Notarized. Stamped.
Two Friends, One Spectacularly Bad Idea
Let’s introduce the cast properly, because credit where it’s due.
Becky Hammon is a trailblazer — the first woman to serve as a full-time assistant coach in the NBA, with the Spurs, and now a championship head coach in the WNBA with the Las Vegas Aces. She has forgotten more basketball than most of us will ever learn. Which is exactly why this particular take is so jarring. It’s like watching a master chef confidently serve a sandwich with the plastic still on the cheese.
And then there’s Draymond Green. Four-time NBA champion. Defensive Player of the Year. Olympic gold medalist. Genuinely one of the smartest defenders the league has ever seen. He is also the proud host of a podcast that, according to absolutely no official agency I can confirm, was briefly investigated by the EPA for emitting too much hot air. When Draymond isn’t playing or podcasting, the Goodyear Blimp reportedly calls him for a top-off. The man can talk. It is, in fairness, a gift.
So here’s the picture: two accomplished, intelligent basketball minds, sitting across from each other, nodding, building an entire shared worldview around the idea that a 6’2” point guard couldn’t possibly lead a champion. What could go wrong?
The Titanic Defense
Here’s where the window of humility opened — and here’s where they nailed it shut.
Brunson didn’t just sneak into the Finals. The Knicks swept Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals. Brunson was named ECF MVP — unanimously again — averaging 25.5 points and 7.8 assists while shooting nearly 49% from the floor. New York rode an 11-game playoff win streak into the championship round. The receipts were piling up in real time.
This was the moment to say, “You know what, he’s playing out of his mind, I might’ve spoken too soon.” A graceful half-step back. Nobody would’ve blinked.
Instead, the doubling down began. Hammon held the line, reaching back into history for backup: Allen Iverson won an MVP and still lost in the Finals, she pointed out, and the two best teams were both out West anyway. She added she was “up for being proven wrong” — the take-haver’s version of leaving the porch light on. Draymond, meanwhile, went full throttle on his show:
“I still think the New York Knicks are missing that one piece… Kevin Durant. Steph Curry. SGA. LeBron James… Just like Becky Hammon said, ‘Prove me wrong.’ Prove me wrong. Double down. Absolutely double down.”
He also waved off New York’s entire path, insisting that getting out of the East “has never been a surefire” route to a title. Translation: the memes started writing themselves. The internet’s favorite way to frame this energy is the old “if the Titanic had just set sail a couple days later, it would’ve missed the iceberg” logic. Technically a sentence. Spiritually a cry for help.
Then Brunson Said: Bet.
You like numbers? I like numbers. Let’s let them do the closing argument.
In Game 4 of the Finals, the Spurs jumped all over New York and built an 81–52 lead. Twenty-nine points. On the brink of going down 3–1. And the Knicks came all the way back to win 107–106 — the largest comeback in NBA Finals history. Brunson put up 36 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds in that one, calmly dismantling the whole “he can’t carry it” thesis one possession at a time.
Then in Game 5, on the road in San Antonio, with the title on the line, he scored 45 — a Knicks Finals record. New York trailed 31–15 early and was still down 10 with under nine minutes left. Brunson then ripped off 10 straight points himself to tie it, and the Knicks closed on a 21–7 run to win 94–90 and seal the championship.
For the series: 32.6 points, 4.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and a unanimous Finals MVP. His head coach, Mike Brown, has compared his work ethic to Stephen Curry and Tim Duncan. Oh — and just to twist the knife gently, the Knicks had already beaten these same Spurs in the Finals of the 2025 NBA Cup back in December. So this wasn’t even the first time Brunson made that exact team watch him lift a trophy this season.
A Quick Word on the Word “Short”
Here’s the part that makes this an instant classic of the genre. The take wasn’t just wrong about the player. It was wrong about the entire premise — out loud, with footnotes.
Jalen Brunson is listed at 6’2”. He’s a two-time NCAA champion at Villanova (2016 and 2018) and the 2018 National Player of the Year. He was a second-round pick — 33rd overall — which means an entire league looked at him and said “eh, later.” He’s now the captain who ended a 53-year drought in the most demanding market in sports. He is, in every measurable way, the exact thing the take said could not exist.
And now the punchline, served cold. Hammon’s lone exception to her “small guys can’t win” rule was Steph Curry — who is, you guessed it, 6’2”. The same height as Brunson. And Draymond Green? He won all four of his championships standing right next to that 6’2” Steph Curry. He built a dynasty on the back of the exact body type he was calling disqualifying. That’s not a take with a hole in it. That’s a take wearing the hole as a hat.
For a little historical context, the “small guard can’t win” trope has a spotty record at best. Iverson, yes, came up short. But Isiah Thomas (6’1”) won two titles. Curry (6’2”) won four. And now Brunson (6’2”) has one, in a Finals where he was the single most dominant player on the floor. The trope didn’t just lose a battle this June. It might’ve lost the war. Going forward, “he’s too small” should probably retire to the same nursing home as “he can’t shoot the three” and “defense wins championships, so ignore the offense.”
The Save-Face Window (And Who Climbed Through It)
Now, here’s the twist that actually gives this story a heart.
To his enormous credit, Draymond Green climbed through the window. After that 29-point Game 4 comeback, he sat down next to Jalen Brunson on the Inside the NBA postgame set and apologized. To his face. On camera.
“I apologize. I will say it now to your face… I’m sorry. Then, I will say it when you go and get your ring: I apologize.”
That’s a real move. That’s a grown man eating it publicly, which is harder than it looks and rarer than it should be. Respect to Draymond for that one — he talked the talk, and when it didn’t pan out, he owned it without flinching. The hot air, it turns out, has a conscience.
Brunson’s response? He’s sitting there in slides, fresh off a 36-point masterpiece, barely glancing up. Two words.
“I appreciate that.”
Ice cold. Iconic. A whole essay delivered in three syllables.
So that’s one apology down. As for the other half of the duo… the internet has noticed a certain silence. The most common reply under every clip of Draymond’s mea culpa has been some version of: “Cool. Now where’s Becky Hammon’s?” The save-face window is still cracked open. The porch light is still on. We’re all just waiting to see if anyone walks up the steps.
The Moral of the Story
Confidence is great. Bravado is fun. Strong opinions are the entire engine of sports talk — I’m here for all of it. But the box score is undefeated, and the lesson is simple: always leave yourself a smidgeon of room for humility. When the evidence turns and the universe offers you an exit ramp, take the ramp. Draymond did, eventually, and he looks better for it.
And because Jalen Brunson is far too classy to ever say this himself, allow me, one more time, to say it on his behalf, with all the love in the world to Becky and Draymond:
Six-foot-two. Finals MVP. Champion. Y’all want to run that “too short” take back one more time?
Make something happen. Just maybe check the height chart first.
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